Greinke to the Injured List, Jose Cuas and Arodys Vizcaino up in a flurry of moves

The Royals made a flurry of transactions on Monday, placing pitcher Zack Greinke on the 15-day Injured List, placing pitchers Gabe Speier and Matt Peacock on the Injured List, and sending down outfielder Brewer Hicklen. Replacing them on the roster will be outfielder Kyle Isbel from the Injured List, and pitchers Foster Griffin, Jose Cuas, and Arodys Vizcaino up from Omaha. No injury was listed for Speier and Peacock, and with no corresponding 40-man roster move made to add Cuats and Vizcaino, the cause is likely COVID-related.

Greinke said after his start on Sunday that he had been dealing with a sore forearm/elbow, something that Mike Matheny talked about following the game.

“I think it was one of those days he just didn’t have that feel, not quite as sharp as he wanted to be,” Matheny said. “Then when he came out, we did know he had some issue in his forearm. That’s probably something that may have been with him from the beginning that we weren’t aware of. Unfortunately, the elbow area, flexor area, wasn’t feeling great, so got him out of the game.”

Arodys Vizcaíno is a seven-year MLB vet who had a 3.01 ERA and 50 saves in 194 ¹⁄₃ innings with the Braves and Cubs. He has not pitched in the big leagues since 2019 due to injury, but had pitched well in Omaha with a 1.76 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15 ¹⁄₃ innings. The 31-year old is a fastball-curveball pitcher with a heater that runs in the high-90s.

Jose Cuas is an interesting sidearmer and former infielder who the Royals signed out of the independent league after stints in the Diamondbacks and Brewers organizations. He throws a low-90s sinker and a slider with good deception and excellent command. The 27-year old right-hander had a 1.74 ERA with 18 strikeouts and 6 walks in 20 ²⁄₃ innings for Omaha.

Griffin returns to the big leagues after giving up four runs in two innings with the Royals a few weeks ago. Isbel is also back on the roster after a stint on the Injured List for COVID-related reasons.